


A Mutually Beneficial Exchange

by china_shop



Category: White Collar
Genre: Con Artists, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:22:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26608192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/china_shop/pseuds/china_shop
Summary: June and Mozzie scope out a gallery.
Relationships: June Ellington & Mozzie, Neal Caffrey & June Ellington
Comments: 16
Kudos: 43
Collections: Fandom Giftbox 2020





	A Mutually Beneficial Exchange

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LeesaPerrie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeesaPerrie/gifts).



> Hi! I couldn't resist your prompt for June friendship fic. I hope this fits the bill! :-)

Before Neal and Mozzie entered her life, June had fallen out of the habit of going to art galleries and museums. She liked looking at beautiful things, but she was tired and a little lonely, and there were many objets d’art in her home. It was just more convenient to stay in.

But times had changed. These days Mozzie insisted on regular outings—to keep abreast of any security system upgrades and innovations, he said—and June was happy to act as his respectability camouflage. She enjoyed Mozzie’s reactions to the various artworks and found his asides about the security guards entertaining. Sometimes Neal joined them, sometimes he was unavailable or the venue in question was outside his radius.

On this particular afternoon, at a private midtown gallery beyond Neal’s two-mile limit, June wasn’t expecting him. She and Mozzie were absorbed in a discussion of New York’s jazz scene in the fifties and hardly paying any attention to the artworks at all, when Neal walked in with Peter Burke at his side.

“Oh, there you are,” said Neal. “I didn’t want to miss the Basquiat exhibit, so I twisted Peter’s arm.”

“Neal!” Mozzie looked outraged. “I can’t believe you brought a Suit to one of our Thieves’ Guild outings!”

Even June felt a thrill of alarm, as if they’d been caught doing something illicit.

“Would you relax?” Neal rolled his eyes at Mozzie. “Peter’s not here for you.”

“I’m here under duress,” confirmed Peter, good-naturedly. “There are a lot more appealing things I could be doing with my Saturday, but apparently one gallery visit equals three cold case reviews.”

“First thing Monday morning,” said Neal, cheerfully, sliding his hands into his pockets.

“Oh no. If I’m here on my own time, you’re doing the case reviews on _your_ own time. That’s what we agreed.” 

Neal pouted. “You drive a hard bargain, Peter.”

“I’m out of here.” Mozzie took a step back. “How am I supposed to engage with the logistical challenge of circumventing venue security when the long arm of the law is brandishing handcuffs in my peripheral vision?”

“Oh, don’t leave,” said June. Her initial flash of unease had passed, but she much preferred Peter’s company when he was well and truly outnumbered. He was more amusing that way. “Perhaps Agent Burke could be persuaded to weigh in with his expertise.”

Mozzie stopped. 

So did Peter. “I don’t know what you’re suggesting, but if it’s aiding and abetting—”

Neal had caught on, of course. He met June’s eye, and they shared a flash of amusement. Then his expression straightened into earnest winsomeness. “Oh, come on, Peter. Here’s your chance to put the fear of God and the law into Moz. We’ll theorise how we’d go about pulling a heist, and you can tell us how the FBI would inevitably catch us. Think of it as information-sharing, with a side of pre-emptive deterrence. A win-win.”

Mozzie looked torn, his instinct to flee plainly warring with his desire to learn more about the enemy.

“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing,” Peter humphed, but he must have realised that Neal—and by extension, Mozzie—already had the inside scoop on the FBI’s methods and resources. 

“It is all strictly hypothetical, after all,” June told him, with a grin. “Good, I’m glad that’s settled.” She took Mozzie’s arm before he could retreat, and steered him towards the next painting. “Now, Mozzie, how would we go about stealing this one? What’s our first move?”

END


End file.
